The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for brewing a beverage, such as coffee, and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method that allows a consumer to select a desired strength of the beverage, and then brews and dispenses the beverage in response to that selection.
In brewing coffee or similar beverages, each consumer has their own taste preferences. In response, as an alternative to traditional multi-cup brewers, there have been efforts to develop brewers that use a single-serve pod. Thus, an individual consumer can brew a single serving of coffee or another beverage, and furthermore, has some flexibility in determining the relative strength of the brewed beverage. In many cases, however, to produce a lighter beverage, additional water is mixed into the brewed beverage to dilute it and lessen its strength. On the other hand, when a stronger beverage is desired, the water content is lessened. However, such a solution does not result in high-quality product and also may present challenges with respect to consumer perception. For example, a consumer who orders an eight-ounce cup of coffee does not want seven ounces of strong coffee in an eight-ounce cup, nor do they want a diluted, lighter coffee that is overflowing from the cup.
It is would therefore be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for brewing coffee or a similar beverage that allows a consumer to select a desired strength, and then brews and dispenses a high-quality beverage in response to that selection, but not by merely adding or subtracting water.